Is this Must de Cartier real or fake? (pics)

[Mr. Sinister]

http://s1240.photobucket.com/albums/gg488/mr_sinister1/

Thanks in advance.

[doug sinclair]

There are a couple things about this watch that give me pause for thought. The bezel is white in color, and the case back is marked plaque d'or argent. The stamping looks all right, BUT, these Must cases are vermeil, which is gold plated on sterling silver! How would Cartier gold plate sterling silver with white gold? Does anyone know if these were done with white gold plating? Maybe the bezel is rhodium plated. If so, why does the back specify that it is gold plated? I was also unable to see the one Roman numeral on the dial which shows the microscopic Cartier name. Does anyone know if the Must Cartier watch dials were thusly marked? I'm not sayin' it's fake, but I am also not saying' it's real!

[Mr. Sinister]

Thanks for the input Doug.

According the the seller, it's supposed to be plated in white gold. Whether or not that's true, I don't know.
If you click on the last picture (#16) to enlarge it, you can see the VII has the Cartier name.

So if it's a fake, I take it that it's a good one and not obviously fake?

[doug sinclair]

There is a question in my mind as to just how this watch could be plated in white gold! I suppose a modern PVD system might make this possible. But I doubt that electroplating in white gold could work. I was unable to see the Cartier name in the VII number, but if it is there, the watch does look good enough to be the real thing.

[Mr. Sinister]

Thanks again for your input. After seeing your comments on similar threads, I was hoping you'd chime in on this one. Now I need to decide if I want to take the risk on this watch or not.

[doug sinclair]

Why don't you seek out a Cartier watch dealer, and see if you can find a vermeil white gold Cartier Must "tank" watch in their catalog.

[Mr. Sinister]

The auction ends today, so I didn't have the time to. I haven't been able to find another examples (or reference) of a white gold plated version, so I'm going to pass on it. Thanks for all of your help.

[Novice]

Hi There Mr Sinister,

Having had a number of these in the past for resoration, In my opinion, due to fact that these Must de Cartiers suffer from plate wear especially towards the ends of the lugs, it may have been possible that someone has polished off all the yellow gold plating to reveal the silver base or it may have been dipped to remove it. On the other hand it may be that someone along the line has replated it in white gold rather than yellow. Having studied the images I would say that it is a genuine Cartier however it has been restored to it's current condition. Hope this helps.

[doug sinclair]

In an earlier post, I expressed some doubt that an item can be electroplated in white gold! I personally doubt that it can be. Chances are this watch had been electroplated with rhodium. Or as Novice has indicated, perhaps it has been reverse plated to remove the gold finish, leaving a sterling silver case. As to the dial. I doubt there is a dial finisher anywhere that can duplicate the Cartier name within the Roman numeral VII. As to whether this watch was altered or not, I guess we'll never know.

[Mr. Sinister]

Well, the seller claimed that the dial was refurbished. Ultimately, I didn't have enough confidence that it was genuine so I couldn't pull the trigger. I've certainly learned a lot while researching this watch though, so thanks again for your input (both of you).

[spearbang]

I have heard too many horror stories about ebay and watch's. I would steer clear of most any watch that you have even a little doubt on!

[Dave Haynes]

The watch looks to be of a Cartier quality. The movement especially. These were faked so often that there are photos of a steamroller smashing hundreds of them under Cartier's direction. I would be surprised that a redialer could refinish the dial with the Cartier trademark on the 7, but I guess they can.